Method of and means for making rail joints



"Oct. 15, 1963 i H. H. TALBOYS 3,107,054

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR MAKING RAIL JOINTS Filed D90. 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I l l l 1N VEN TOR.

Oct. 15,1963 I H. H. TALBOYS METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR MAKING RAIL JOINTS Filed D90. 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g, j 33a WZiZ/ZZ/ m -V/// 4/ A A Yam/ 27 W INVEN TOR. 5/6/71"; @Kfioys. @r/erfQr/ar 3,107,054 METHGD OF AND MEANS FOR MAKING JGINTS Henry H. Talhoys, 4329 N. Gakland Ava, Iftilwaukee 17, Wis. Filed Bee. 11, 1953, Ser. No. 779,615 1 Gaim. (Ci. 233151) My invention relates to an improvement in rail joints.

One purpose is to provide improved means for freezing such joints, by preventing relative movement of the joint parts, and the abutting rails.

Another purpose is to provide an improved locking shim for rail joints.

Another purpose is to provide improved means for interlocking the parts of a rail joint to prevent relative movement of the abutting rails.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claim.

I illustrate the invention more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

IGURE 1 is a vertical transverse section through a rail joint, illustrating the employment of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section, on an enlarged scale, along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 4, 5, 6 and 7 are sections similar to FIG- URE 3, through variant forms of the shim; and

FIGURE 8 is a section similar to FIGURE 1, illustrating a variant method of and structure for making a rail joint.

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 generally indicates a rail having a head 2, a web 3, and a bottom flange or base 4. Opposite joint members 5 and 6 are connected by suitable headed bolts 7 with nuts 8 and locking washers 9.

In a joint of the type under discussion, upper surfaces 5:: and 6a of the joint members 5 and 6 respectively abut corresponding lower surfaces 2a and 2b of the head 2. Similarly, lower surfaces 5b and 6b abut corresponding upper surfaces 41) of the bottom flange. These surfaces are commonly referred to as fishing surfaces. Thus, when the bolts 7 and nuts 8 are tightened to direct an inward thrust of one joint member toward the other and toward the web of the rail the abutting surfaces of the joint members 5 and 6 are firmly thrust inwardly against the abutting surfaces of the head and base of the rail. Since these opposed surfaces are somewhat inclined to the direction of thrust there is a camming, wedging action.

In the ideal rail joint, as shown in FIGURE 2, the two rails abut end to end at the joint or abutting zone 10. In the ideal frozen joint there is a snug fit between the opposed rail ends. And when the joint is properly held or frozen there is, ideally, no relative movement of the abutting rail ends.

It is the purpose of the present invention to freeze the joint and to prevent, so far as possible, any relative movement of any of the parts which form the joint.

As shown, for example, in FIGURE 1, I employ a rail shim generally indicated as 20. It has an upper flange 21 and a lower flange 22. It is apertured as at 23 to permit the passage of the bolts 7. It is so shaped and proportioned that the upper flange 21 lies between the otherwise abutting surfaces of the joint members 5 and 6 and the head 2. Its lower flange 22 lies between the otherwise abutting surfaces of the joint members 5 and 6 and the bottom flange or base 4-.

The nature and material of the shim may be varied but it is important that the shim be relatively thin and that its surfaces of abutment with the joint members and BJfiYfl-fld Patented 0st. 15, 1963 with the head and base of the rail be such as to prevent any creeping or relative movement.

Considering a typical example of an acceptable rail. shim, I may employ a thin steel which may be, but need not necessarily be, a spring steel. This steel body is suitably shaped, as shown in the drawings, to provide and properly to position the two flanges 21 and 22. It is important that as these flanges are urged and cammed or wedged into engagement with the rail and the joint members there should be an intimate connection and at least a limited inter-penetration. I find it advantageous to provide a shim so formed or surfaced that, as the shim is drawn into the final position of FIGURE 1, it actually cuts or forms the abutting surfaces of the joint members 5 and 6 and of the rail head and base, so that as long as the shim is tightly held in position it is firmly frozen or keyed and will permit no relative movement or creep of any of the parts involved in the joint.

I may, for example, sand blast or shot blast the upper and lower surfaces of the flanges 21 and 22. This produces small irregularities of surface which are forced into intimate association and slight inter-penetration with the surfaces of rail head and base and of joint members. Or I may spray steel particles (by a method known as metal spraying) onto the contact surfaces of the shim.

It is important that these small irregularities be associated with a relatively thin shim. The shim must be thin to go between the fishing surfaces of the rail and the joint bars. It must be hard, but it must have some pliabi-lity or slight flexibility so that, under pressure, it will conform to the opposed rail and joint bar fishing surfaces. In practice I find that a steel shim may, for example, be of 16, 18 or ZO-Igauge. It is, in general, important that the shim stock, when steel is used, be definitely harder than the metal of which the rails are formed. As an example, a steel shim may have a Brinnell hardness of the order of 50 to 52, whereas 28 or 29 Brinnell is typical of rails. This hardness is given as an example, however, rather than as a limitation, and applies primarily when the metal of which the shim is made is relied upon as the means for maintaining the desired intimate contact or inter-penetration.

Under some circumstances it is practical and effective to run a steel shim through a knurling tool, to form angular scratches on the surfaces of the flanges 21 and 22. These scratches and the intervening raised metal knife-in or make their own keyway in the metal of the abutting surfaces. They are, however, so shallow that they will not start cracks which might eventually weaken the rail. These scratches and the metal between them cut into both rail and angle bar or joint member, as the joint members are drawn together toward each other and against the fishing surfaces.

In treating steel shims I have mentioned that sand or shot blasting may be employed. When shot blasting, No. 18 shot, for example, may be employed.

An alternative is to rely on cutting material, such as shot which is used in shot blasting, to provide the intimate and inter-penetrating contact which is desired. I find it practical, for example, to roll out a plastic ribbon in which the plastic has been mixed with suitable harder material, such as blasting shot. Such a plastic may be rolled out in a ribbon of from 16 to lS-gauge thickness, to give a typical practical range. This ribbon can be properly formed or channeled to form the desired shim. It may be used as a substitute for the above described steel shim. In that event the plastic serves as a carrier or positioning medium. The blasting shots, or their equivalent, serve to key into the fishing surfaces. The shot should be approximately the diameter of the thickness of the plastic shim so that each shot will penetrate both the rail and angle bar, thus acting as a key to prevent 3 relative movement between the two. When pressure is applied by tightening the bolts these hard short particles dig in slightly, but under conditions which do not start metal flaws or cracks.

Another practical procedure is to employ shims of very soft steel, which need not be heat treated. Then sharp shot or its equivalent can be rolled into the surfaces of the two flanges. In this event the soft steel serves as the positioning or containing medium, but the sharp particles cut into the fishing surfaces.

Another solution is to employ a suitable metal shim, which may be of soft steel, and apply a coating to the surfaces of the shim flanges. This coating may be a suitable plastic carrying body which carries sharp particles, such as, for example, chilled shot, or abrasive particles, such as aluminum oxide, used in making grinding wheels.

A still different procedure, but perfectly satisfactory, is to provide shims of soft steel or of any other suitable material which have flanges, such as 21 and 22, formed with a large number of small perforations into which chilled shot or its equivalent may be inset, or held in place by a plastic bond, the particles being slightly larger than the thickness of the shim.

It should be realized that whereas I have described and shown a practical and operative structure and several variations of it, and whereas I have described and shown a practical method and several modifications of it, many changes maybe made in size, shape, number and disposition of parts and in method steps, without departing from the spirit of the present invention. I therefore wish my description and drawings to be taken as, in a broad sense, illustrative and diagrammatic rather than as limiting me to my specific showing herein. In particular, it will be understood that variant types of shim may be employed. Referring, for example, to FIGURE 3, a shim 3% is illustrated in section, which is provided at its opposite faces with roughened surfaces 39a and 3%. This roughening may be obtained by blasting or by knurling, or otherwise, it being understood that the shim, or the surface thereof, is of harder metal than the metal of the rail indicated at 2, or 4, or the metal of the joint bar or clamp indicated at 6. Thus the hard, sharp points or surface roughness indicated at 390 and 3% Will cut into the opposed surfaces of the rail and the clamp bar and will act as keys to prevent relative movement.

A similar penetrating or keying action is obtained with the shim structure of FIGURE 4. There the shim 31 may be of soft metal, for example, of sheet steel, both sides of the metal having had rolled into it hard particles 31a. These may be of chilled shot or abrasive wheel particles, or any hard substance that can be pressed into the opposed steel surfaces of the rail and of the joint bar. The particles 31a on one side of the shim will act as keys to lock the rail against relative movement with the shim. On the other side they will act to prevent relative movement of the rail and joint bar. Thus the keying action or interpenetration will prevent relative movement between rail and joint bar. The above keying action is, of course, obtained by the roughness and the particles shown in all of the various forms of FIGURES 3 to 7, inelusive.

FIGURE 5 illustrates a further form of shim in which the shim body 32 may be of a suitable soft material, such as a plastic, rubber, or rubber substitute, or a relatively soft metal, for example, zinc, lead or annealed steel, Embedded in this relatively soft body are hard substances or particles 320, such as chilled blasting shot, aluminum oxide particles, particles of grinding Wheel material, and the like. These particles may, if desired, be of sulficient size to extend through the shim body 32 and to project outwardly at the outer faces thereof. They are held in position by the shim body 32, so that, under pressure, they will cut into the opposite surfaces of rail and joint bar and will thus act as keys to prevent relative movement between the two. Preferably, but not necessarily, all of the particles may be of such size as to extend all the way through the shim, and project from both faces.

In the shim form of FIGURE 6 a shim body 33 may be employed, of relatively soft material. Applied to or sprayed upon each surface of the shim body, as at 33a, is a hard substanw or a hard metal so applied as to pro vide a rough surface, or a surface having irregularities which will serve to obtain the earlier described keying and locking action to hold rail and joint bar against relative movement.

In the shim form of FIGURE 7 I illustrate a shim body 34. This form is well adapted to meet the requirement that spaced sharp points or particles shall cut into the rail and the joint bar for a limited distance, so that after an initial pressure causes the particles or keys to lock rail and joint bar against relative movement the body of the shim will support the pressure between the rail and the joint bar and will limit their further movement toward each other. To obtain this result I employ a shim body 34 of substantial strength and compression resistance, which has formed or scattered over its surface spaced edges or particles 34a which are shaped and adapted to. out into the rail and bar surfaces. Intermediate plane surfaces 341) support the pressure between the rail and the rail bar and act as limits for preventing the keys from cutting any deeper than is necessary. In effect, I have a composite member which acts both as a keying member and as a spacing member, which positively limits the rail and joint bar to an approach defined or limited by the thickness of the shim 34. This involves, in general, a substantial spacing apart of the projections 34a. These projections may be formed of points or edges formed in the surface of the shim body 34. Or they may be separate elements received into the surface of the body 34- by any conventional method as illustrated in United States Patents #2,270,209 or #2290631 for example.

In FIGURE 8 I illustrate a variant application of my invention in which I dispense with a separate shim altogether. Instead, I so form or treat the surface of a joint bar as to make the use of a shim unnecessary. In FIGURE 8 the joint bar I6 has its upper and lower rail abutting faces or surfaces, shown at Ma and 16b respectively, provided with hard, sharp points, edges, or particles 35. These particles may be formed on or rolled into the joint bars 16, or they may be otherwise positioned on the surfaces 16a and 161). They are so proportioned and spaced, and are of such sharpness and hardness, as to cut into the rail under pressure and to key into the rail, thereby to prevent relative movement between rail and bar.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

In considering a typical rail joint, such as is shown in the drawings herein, I prefer to inter-pose between the joint members or channels and the abutting rail surfaces a shim or carrier which, when suitable pressure is applied, cuts slightly into or keys into the abutting surfaces of the joint members or angles and the rail head and the rail base flange. It is important that the surface irregularities which form these cuts are sulficiently slight or small so that the opposed surfaces will not be caused to abut, and cracks will not be started. On the other hand, they must be sufficiently sharp and hard, and properly shaped and positioned so that when the joint is tightened, for example, by tightening the bolts 7 and nuts 3, the irregularities will cut or key into the opposed surfaces of rail and channels.

While I do not wish to limit myself to a specific shim material, I give, as an example, the use of roughened hard steel or spring steel stock. An alternative is to use sharp, hard particles, such, for example, as chilled shot, which may be carried in the body of a plastic shim, or may be applied in a coating to a shim Olf metal or other material, or which may be inset in apertures in a a suitable shim, or rolled into a shim of relatively soft material.

It should be realized that Whereas a primary purpose of any method and structure is to freeze joints in track formed of rails of substantial length, my structure and methods are also applicable to switch area joints and insulated joints, and, in general, to joints involving short rail lengths. What is important is that the method and structure of shims herein described are adaptable for use wherever it is desired to freeze a rail joint. My drawings should be taken as diagrammatic, since they illustrate my novel principle of joint formation rather than the precise details of the appearance of the shims or the shape of the keying edges or particles.

I claim:

A preformed steel shim for rail joints of hard steel adapted to be positioned between the otherwise abutting surfaces of the rail head and the rail base flange of a rail, and joint channel members,

said shim having a body portion apertured to receive joint bolts,

an upper, outwardly extending flange conforming to the lower surface of the rail head and a lower, outwardly extending flange conforming to the upper surface of the rail base flange, the shim thereby having a contour conforming generally to the rail Web,

both faces of each of said flanges being provided with relatively sharp projections of a size suflicient to inter-penetrate into the opposed surfaces of the rail head and rail base flange and the joint channel members a distance sufiicient to key the shim thereto in response to movement of the channel members to- Ward the rail Web,

said sharp projections being formed by elements imbedded in the shim,

said sharp projections being substantially harder than the opposed surfaces of the rail and of the joint channel members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 717,088 Farr Dec. 30, 1902 979,860 Huse et al Dec. 27, 1910 1,533,916 Johnson Apr. 14, 1925 1,736,328 Salsich Nov. 19, 1929 2,066,797 Oettinger I an. 5, 1937 2,170,018 Gadd Aug. 22,1939 2,313,034 Hill Mar. 2, 1943 2,315,444 Meade Mar. 30, 1943 2,501,969 Saul Mar. 28, 1950 2,754,065 Hawley July 10, 1956 2,785,862 Lansing Mar. 19, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 320,150 Germany Apr. 12, 1920 

